Managing community-generated content

Good content is crucial for your site to succeed. But if you’re finding coming up with content regularly difficult, or you’re struggling to find what resonates with your audience, consider creating a site that’s made up of community generated content. It’s a great way to connect with your audience on a deeper level, reward your readers, and keep them informed on what’s trending within your site’s niche. Want to know if managing community-generated content is the right move for you as a site owner? We’ll outline it all below.

What is community-generated content?

Community-generated content spans a wide range of sites. An easy example to look at is social media sites. They create the platform for users to share their own content, which in turn means the audience is providing the pictures, statuses, sharing links, etc. All of this means that you have an active audience constantly creating original content, which other users are interested in viewing, liking, and sharing. This content cycle means there’s always new content on the platform, enticing users and advertisers who are looking to reach this captive audience.

Creating a community-generated content ecosystem means you need to create a tool users want to use. Let’s take a look at two of our partner sites, NameMC and DiscordBotList. They act as a search tool for Minecraft and Discord users looking to boost their gameplay or enhance their group. Minecraft and Discord creators can upload their content to the site to reach more users. Gamers and group admins can then peruse the user-uploaded content to find the perfect server, skin, bot, or app.

How can I create a successful site using community-generated content?

Like with any other site, you should be creating it with the intent to provide a valuable service or product for users. Consider where it would be beneficial to invite users to submit their own content. Your audience will be more likely to contribute to your site if you employ incentives for uploading content. This could be as simple as implementing a ranking system, so top content is displayed at the top of the page. Users who want their content to reach more of your audience will be incentivized to post their best content because they know that the top content gets featured.

Traditional sites can benefit from accepting user submissions or community-generated content as well. Our partner True Achievements publishes about everything Xbox, but relies on user-verified content for walkthroughs or lists. They host forums on their site as well, so users can discuss different games and achievements directly with other interested users. It’s why True Achievements is a trusted site for Xbox gamers, because they know other Xbox gamers are supplementing the content on the site.

If you’re a site owner looking for an ad network with dedicated publishers, avid gamers, and a portfolio of some of the biggest sites in gaming, apply to join the Collective here. For more content on hosting, publishing, or advertising, check out our Resources page, or read more on our blog.